I Love to Read Month, Le mois du plaisir de lecture (2023)

I Love to Read Month, Le Mois du Plaisir de Lecture is an annual, month-long celebration that promotes and encourages reading in schools, libraries, and homes throughout Manitoba. During the month of February, our classrooms and school libraries participate in a variety of activities that foster a love for reading which includes school-wide assemblies, DEAR (drop everything and read), reading challenges, read-a-thons, book swaps, mystery readers, author visits, book tastings, outdoor Storywalks®, flashlight Fridays, and Teams read-alouds.  

The Reading Council of Greater Winnipeg also provides a calendar of daily activities for students, educators and families to “explore different ways of engaging with literacy.”  This year’s I Love to Read calendar theme is “Stories Connect Us: We Are More Alike Than Different .” The reading activities included on the calendar reflect this year’s theme and encourage students of all ages to explore different ways of engaging with literacy.

Reading is an essential literacy skill for everyone. Reading helps us to establish our personal identity and brings us closer to the lives and experiences of others. The International Reading Association states that “the ability to read, write, and communicate connects people and empowers them to achieve things they never thought possible” (2020).  Reading, like most things, improves with practice, therefore we need to read widely and extensively.  When we begin to see ourselves as readers, we develop more positive attitudes toward reading for personal enjoyment. Leisure reading supports the social and collaborative nature of learning and encourages each of us to share our own understanding, as well as value the opinions of others.

Teacher-librarians and library assistants in our school libraries play an active role in enriching the lives of readers of all ages by fostering a love of reading as a learning lifestyle.  In 2022, LRSD school and professional libraries circulated over 500,000 physical and virtual books across the division – more than half a million picture books, fiction books, graphic novels, non-fiction titles, periodicals, ebooks and audio books were shared among our students and staff over the past year.  

Our participation in annual events such as I Love to Read Month, Le Mois du Plaisir de Lecture celebrates the joy of reading and encourages students, staff and parents to make literacy, not only an educational goal, but a personal choice for a lifetime.

Kathleen Atkin

Library Coordinator